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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Aaaahh I forgot my post again this morning! That's been happening a lot lately! And a lot of stuff is happening for all of us right now, and so after my "Abby, your post isn't up again!" conversation with Mum this morning, we've decided to ditch our regular posting days until further notice! We may still come on and post, but we don't want to commit to anything and not follow through!

Thank you to all the lovely people who come on and check up on us each day, and for the lovely comments :) We have enjoyed 'meeting' some lovely people here in Blogland, and will keep checking your blogs even if you don't hear from us every day or even every week! :) We would like to keep posting but have to prioritise 'life' right now. Perhaps in the future we'll return to regularity! - who knows? But for now, signing out!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Pertinacious (adjective): Holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action.

Mum shared a really interesting article with me the other day (you can read it here), all about Nail Houses - which I hadn't heard of before. In a nutshell: You know how sometimes the government needs to purchase a bunch of houses so they can knock them down to make way for a new highway, or a new airport etc. etc? Well in many parts of China now they seem to have laws that protect homeowners to the point that if they chose not to accept the government's offer and sell their homes so they can be knocked down for new roads etc., then the government can't force them to do it.

So the government (and this is where it all gets just a little fabulous), simply knocks down everything else, and goes ahead with the project anyway. Sometimes they'll even pull down half of an apartment building, leaving the section containing the apartment that won't sell! This perfect mix of stubbornness on both sides means that some proud homeowners suddenly find themselves living in the middle of a freeway:

Now from what I've read, it seems that sooner or later a house-stopping-the-freeway-from-opening will draw huge national media attention and heavy pressure will rain down on everyone involved. And then it seems that eventually (as was the case with the above home) the homeowner will sell their home and move, but not until after the Government folds and gives them the much higher asking price they were demanding in the first place.

But of course, it also seems like some simply adjust to life in the middle of the road.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Do you have a present box in your home? This is a simple idea, but if you are not already using it you might find it a handy tip to use.

With seven children to buy for at Christmas and birthdays, (and we tend to go overboard a bit with presents - we still have a sack for each of the grown children!), plus all the gifts they have needed to take when they are attending the birthdays of friends, I've found it a real time and money saver to have a box that I keep more or less full of potential gifts, ready to be used at any time. Mine is a good-sized cardboard box with a lid, (actually, sometimes two or three boxes), that I keep under the bed or in the bottom of my cupboard.

I also don't love shopping that much.. so whenever there are really great sales on, whether online or at my favourite shops, or whenever I visit the big discount centres like DFO or Harbourtown, I shop 'til I drop and come home with bags full of gifts I think I will need in the future. I'm a bit like a robot as I whisk through each store, all programmed up with the names and ages of all our family members, with some ideas of what they might like, my head skimming from side to side, alert to any bargains within the radius of my purview... - or at least that's how I imagine myself, which makes the whole 'I'm out shopping' thing just a lot more exciting I think :)

Mostly though, I'm pretty much always on the lookout whenever I do need to be at the shops. So for instance: perhaps I happen to pass Prouds' Jewellers while I am on my way to a haircut, and notice that they have a 60% off sale on all their sterling silver. I go in, reconnoiter, and emerge 15 minutes later with a lovely bracelet and earrings for Bethy's birthday in two months, some earrings and a necklace for Tammy for Christmas, 3 lovely little bracelets that were a terrific price, that I think our twin boys might be interested in as birthday presents for friends, etc. And it all goes in to the present box, to join some books ready for various grandchildren, some children's clothes and toys for next Christmas, some of Abby's favourite hair products that were on a great special, etc, etc. If you do this all year, you will have almost all you need before you even get to Christmas.

Another of the benefits of shopping in advance is that I miss the dreaded Christmas rush, thank goodness!